A Nation of Laws

The title is supposed to reflect a good thing. We’ve a history that we learned starting in grade school about how we rebelled against bad laws and fought a revolution. Afterward, we designed a Constitution and followed up with a Bill of Rights to prevent the excesses that brought about that revolution.

The other day a factoid in a news article grabbed my attention:

Half of all persons under the age of 23 have a RAP sheet. (Record of Arrest and Prosecution) Wha? I mean: what is going on? I thought about it a bit. Yup, another side effect of the UIGEA. Well, you’ve got to throw in similar legislation but that is one of the many indicators. You can watch Cops and some loser getting busted for a bit of grass. The car gets towed or seized. The guy misses work because he in jail. Handcuffed and taken from are streets to protect you and me. Next week he out of a job and on the dole and in our pockets.

Well, there it is in a nutshell. Oh, it is minor consuming. It might be a host of other things. We point to it as a breakdown in society. Doesn’t deserve a closer look. These are scumbags so we feel protected and righteous.

Thinking about it gave me pause. It wasn’t long ago I watch the Prohibition special on PBS. Demon rum sure made for the same sound bit. Statistic quoted similar horrors to family and society. Unfortunately, the Great Experiment laid an egg. What resulted was a law that created law breakers. That is what the UIGEA and similar nanny legislation is doing. It is breaking society and showing young and old that abusive laws break down society more than they help it.

One of the tricks used by politicians is to offload responsibility for failings. They move it to the regulatory side with that host of unintended consequences. We saw it with the bank meltdown. The result was abusive legislation that penalized and added requirements. But, think about it. There are a host of laws going back to English Common Law that are about what took place. Not one bank or bank officer has been prosecuted. Why do we need more laws to poorly enforce? And, that contributes to people ignoring the UIGEA and whatever.

Right now there are some really abusive laws in the works. SOPA is a poster child. It may break the Internet. Compliance officer have going from a guy with a harried look to whole department in most companies. It is a cost of doing business that does not contribute to growth. It turns kids under 23 and business owners and leaders and you and me into scoff law angle shooters.

We have created a better society or better citizens supposedly by law upon law. The added complexity created an environment where average, normal, guy up the street people ignore bad laws that either aren’t or can’t be enforced. And over half of those under 23 figured it out and got had by the stupidity of our Nation of Laws.

I mentioned SOPA and provided a link. This law really goes beyond the regulatory avoidance loved by politicians. It gives the Justice Department jurisdiction. But, it also place enforcement in the hands of the Industry lobbying for its passage. Think about that. Some private corporation is being given enforcement rights. That is beyond rational ideas.